Exceptional Sales PerformanceMonday Motivational Minute |
 Can you measure the results of a positive attitude? |
September 24th 2012
By Gregory Ferrett
Welcome to Monday.
After the first day of an industry trade show one of my clients called me. "Everyone is going terrible. This show is a waste of time and there are four more days to go!”
‘Gong’ – a bell went off in my mind as these words tumbled from the telephone reminding me of the saying, ‘Change your attitude and change your results’. I spent about 30 minutes coaching this client on a few specific things he and his team could do to change their attitude and why. He was sceptical, however made a commitment to try just two ideas the next day and agreed to call me and let me know what happened.
"Greg, you can not imagine how unbelievable today has been,” were his first words when I answered the call. “The average order size has doubled and today we have taken more than ever before.”
I called again yesterday, and after four days they were so busy on their stand that people were complaining they could not get in.
What about all their neighbours stands?
Nothing had changed for them. They had similar products to my client. They were, however, not even going to recover the cost of attending.
Gandhi admonished, "Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, the belief makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I didn't have it at the beginning."
A relative of ours is extending their home.
The plumber engaged by the builder to put the new roof on the extension taught me and my relative some juicy new words that I would find difficult to use even at the football! His entire day was invested in telling stories of how he could not get on with his family, why the world was terrible, and why his wife of less than one year left him.
His final complaint was that he found it difficult to get more than one job from a builder. I tried some careful coaching and he responded “Mate, I do a fantastic job and have great relationships”. I left him in his misery.
Ask this question of yourself. If you had your choice, which would you rather buy from.
A person who finds obstacles e.g. “I don’t know if we can get that product in time for you?”
OR
A person who is excited about their organisation and what they could do to help you achieve your goals? e.g. “This is exactly the product to meet your needs – I will make sure it is there when you need it”.
This may sound trivial. There is a world of difference in your clients mind.
Attitude can be as simple as changing your focus. Here is a simple example;
You race into the car park a few minutes late cursing the idiot who cut you off as you tried to run a yellow light. You have been listening to talkback radio with callers complaining about the most trivial of matters. You are agitated and race into your prospects’ office.
Your prospect asks, “How are you?”
You respond automatically with your subconscious crafting words reflecting your mental state. Your prospect, subconsciously reflecting your attitude, goes into the same ‘negative’ mental state and you end up wondering why you even bothered calling.
Rewind …
This time you stop for a few minutes to reflect on your prospects’ business and your own objectives for this call. You had a motivational message on in the background as you drove there.
This time, when your prospect says “How are you?” you respond saying, “Bob, I am really happy to be able to meet with you today. I have some exciting news about potential solutions to overcome the business issues we discussed at our last meeting.” Your client, subconsciously, goes into an expectant frame of mind and you have a fantastic meeting.
So, can you measure the result of a positive attitude?
You sure can – and there have been many studies done to support this.
Recent research has shown that 94% of income earned by salespeople is made by just 7% of salespeople!
And why do people do business with this 7%? Research again tells us it is because they are great people to be around. Not noisy gongs or complainers.
Your attitude is where the biggest difference can be made. I have witnessed people transform their sales career with simple changes to the way they talk to themselves first, and then to others around them.
In the case of the industry show changing the teams attitude doubled their sales in one day and changed the outcome of the show. Most of the companies were happy to focus on the negatives – and they lived out this self fulfilling prophecy.
Where do YOU fit?
Today’s question & action
‘Gong’ – a bell went off in my mind as these words tumbled from the telephone reminding me of the saying, ‘Change your attitude and change your results’. I spent about 30 minutes coaching this client on a few specific things he and his team could do to change their attitude and why. He was sceptical, however made a commitment to try just two ideas the next day and agreed to call me and let me know what happened.
"Greg, you can not imagine how unbelievable today has been,” were his first words when I answered the call. “The average order size has doubled and today we have taken more than ever before.”
I called again yesterday, and after four days they were so busy on their stand that people were complaining they could not get in.
What about all their neighbours stands?
Nothing had changed for them. They had similar products to my client. They were, however, not even going to recover the cost of attending.
Gandhi admonished, "Men often become what they believe themselves to be. If I believe I cannot do something, the belief makes me incapable of doing it. But when I believe I can, then I acquire the ability to do it, even if I didn't have it at the beginning."
Who do you prefer to deal with?
A relative of ours is extending their home.
The plumber engaged by the builder to put the new roof on the extension taught me and my relative some juicy new words that I would find difficult to use even at the football! His entire day was invested in telling stories of how he could not get on with his family, why the world was terrible, and why his wife of less than one year left him.
His final complaint was that he found it difficult to get more than one job from a builder. I tried some careful coaching and he responded “Mate, I do a fantastic job and have great relationships”. I left him in his misery.
Ask this question of yourself. If you had your choice, which would you rather buy from.
A person who finds obstacles e.g. “I don’t know if we can get that product in time for you?”
OR
A person who is excited about their organisation and what they could do to help you achieve your goals? e.g. “This is exactly the product to meet your needs – I will make sure it is there when you need it”.
This may sound trivial. There is a world of difference in your clients mind.
Simple Strategies to Change Your Attitude
Attitude can be as simple as changing your focus. Here is a simple example;
You race into the car park a few minutes late cursing the idiot who cut you off as you tried to run a yellow light. You have been listening to talkback radio with callers complaining about the most trivial of matters. You are agitated and race into your prospects’ office.
Your prospect asks, “How are you?”
You respond automatically with your subconscious crafting words reflecting your mental state. Your prospect, subconsciously reflecting your attitude, goes into the same ‘negative’ mental state and you end up wondering why you even bothered calling.
Rewind …
This time you stop for a few minutes to reflect on your prospects’ business and your own objectives for this call. You had a motivational message on in the background as you drove there.
This time, when your prospect says “How are you?” you respond saying, “Bob, I am really happy to be able to meet with you today. I have some exciting news about potential solutions to overcome the business issues we discussed at our last meeting.” Your client, subconsciously, goes into an expectant frame of mind and you have a fantastic meeting.
So, can you measure the result of a positive attitude?
You sure can – and there have been many studies done to support this.
Recent research has shown that 94% of income earned by salespeople is made by just 7% of salespeople!
And why do people do business with this 7%? Research again tells us it is because they are great people to be around. Not noisy gongs or complainers.
Your attitude is where the biggest difference can be made. I have witnessed people transform their sales career with simple changes to the way they talk to themselves first, and then to others around them.
In the case of the industry show changing the teams attitude doubled their sales in one day and changed the outcome of the show. Most of the companies were happy to focus on the negatives – and they lived out this self fulfilling prophecy.
Where do YOU fit?
Do you want to be in the 7%?
Examine your words carefully. If there is even a HINT of being negative your subconscious will pick this up and act on it.
Ask your colleagues to listen into your telephone conversations and start recording your sales calls. If you hear things like “I can’t …” or “The company will never …” creeping into your conversation, create alternatives to use.
Put a 'swear elephant' on your desk (or any shape of money box) and put $2 in every time you catch yourself using certain words.
Before every appointment, even if you are a bit late, stop and make sure you have a plan to start the conversation off in a positive way. Once a conversation starts, especially a first conversation, it is tough to pull the level of attitude up.
Examine your words carefully. If there is even a HINT of being negative your subconscious will pick this up and act on it.
Ask your colleagues to listen into your telephone conversations and start recording your sales calls. If you hear things like “I can’t …” or “The company will never …” creeping into your conversation, create alternatives to use.
Put a 'swear elephant' on your desk (or any shape of money box) and put $2 in every time you catch yourself using certain words.
Before every appointment, even if you are a bit late, stop and make sure you have a plan to start the conversation off in a positive way. Once a conversation starts, especially a first conversation, it is tough to pull the level of attitude up.
Have a great week!
Reprint permission
Permission is granted to reprint this article with the condition it is republished unedited and in full with full attribution to the author and the authors bio. Please provide a link to the reprint to the following email; greg.ferrett@exceptionalsales.com.au
Exceptional Sales Performance
Reprint permission
Permission is granted to reprint this article with the condition it is republished unedited and in full with full attribution to the author and the authors bio. Please provide a link to the reprint to the following email; greg.ferrett@exceptionalsales.com.au
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